xxxv, 252 pages : 21 cm

The Analects, or Lun Yu, represents the primary surviving source for the teachings of Confucius, the most influential sage in human history. The book's defining characteristic is its form -- brief aphoristic fragments, each appearing with little supporting context

Many of the book's fragments are assumed to represent the Master's teachings, handed down accurately by his disciples. Other parts of the text may be apocryphal. Regardless, the Analects represents, as a matter of historical fact, the fundamental body of thought that has shaped Chinese civilization for more than two thousand years. It may easily be argued that these texts have had a deeper impact on more people's lives over a longer period of time than any other book in human history

Through his practice of self-cultivation, Confucius became a great sage and devoted himself passionately to the public good, in spite of hunger, homelessness, and violence. His innovative social philosophy -- occupied with the practical issues of how society works as a selfless weave of caring relationships -- remains remarkably current today

The Analects has been translated many times -- by Ezra Pound, Arthur Waley, Lin Yutang, Raymond Dawson, D.C. Lau, and most recently Simon Leys -- and the translations vary widely in style and substance. Waley's Analects, translated in 1938, has dominated the academic marketplace but today seems dated. Hinton's translation breathes new life into Confucius's majestic vision of the human community nestled in the primal ecology of a harmonious cosmos

Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-252)

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